Saturday, April 7, 2018

Taya's CA History Project - 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

In addition to Cadence's PE project & the kids' 2 science fair projects, Taya also had a big CA State History project due. I've actually looked forward to this project all year long. 4th grade is the year kids do state history projects & they've all been fun. Cadence made a mud hut for her UT state history project, & Lorien dressed up in Colonial clothing & did an oral report for her VA state history project. I've seen SEVERAL California mission model kids at stores around here so I've been SO excited to help Taya build one.

FINALLY, the time came to start a project. Taya came home SUPER excited & I excitedly said "WHICH MISSION DO YOU GET TO BUILD?"

She looked at me confused & said. . .

"I chose the 1906 San Francisco earthquake."

"You what!?!?!? Wait. . . .what?"

Of course my little meteorologist would pick AN EARTHQUAKE as her assignment. How on earth was she going to make a MODEL OF AN EARTHQUAKE?

Never underestimate your kids. They are amazing & when given the opportunity, they are brilliant. She had it all worked out in her head & she executed it amazingly.

She built the entire thing herself. Trek even let her use his saw to build the base boards & all the buildings. She used 2 pieces of plywood for the bases & painted one like street blocks. Then she used wooden dowels to make buildings. She cut the buildings in half & glued the bottom pieces to the street, but left the tops loose (so they broke when the earthquake happened).

Next she put 4 large bouncy balls between the 2 base boards & secured them with rubber bands. With the balls in between, the top base board (the one with the street & buildings) would shake just like an earthquake, making all the buildings break. It was pure genius.